Are You Loving Your People Enough?

We’re not talking about being best friends with everyone. And we’re not talking about overfunctioning – solving every crisis for them or sheltering them from any difficulty.

We are talking about working as a team and making sure that kindness is an essential experience, no matter how difficult things get.The quality of your work flows from how you do that work. If you don’t do it in an atmosphere of loving kindness, your people can’t give you their best. They need to know they are cared for – championed, supported, and inspired. It’s such a basic human need that their brains quite literally can’t work well without it.

Make them feel part of a team and they will work their asses off for that team. When they don’t feel part of a team, their work suffers because they feel uncommitted and isolated. And, chances are, they’ll leave you to find caring and camaraderie somewhere else.

Here’s the thing: Being “loving” just to get what you want out of people never works. You’re just manipulating. Things only really change when you forge authentic connections.

What does that look like?
– Having your team’s back. Standing up for them.
– Knowing them as individuals.
– Getting them the time and resources they need to do their best work.
– Celebrating milestones.
– Being clear and honest (vagueness to avoid hurting someone’s feelings isn’t loving).
– Helping them grow and stretch their creative muscles.
– Making inspiration part of their work life.
– Having zero tolerance for destructiveness, disrespect and other toxic behavior — and not behaving that way yourself.